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A review by kell_xavi
Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
4.5
The situations in this book are grounded, funny, warm, and full of life. Emma and Justin are strong characters, adults with complex lives who’ve been holding back a little bit, but find a way to trust one inch at a time.
There are great settings: the island and cabin where Maddy and Emma stay, the Dahl home with its family chaos, Justin’s studio, and the Mall of America replace the typical romantic scenes; the characters around each protagonist make things both more difficult, more real as well.
I love the way Jimenez introduces Justin through a Reddit post and flirty texting, and how much more weight they both have by the end.
This is a heavy book, more so than I anticipated. Emma’s mother is a hard character to write and a hard person to reckon with. Jimenez writes her through Emma’s eyes, mostly. This means that this volatile, neglectful, untrustworthy person is written with sensitivity, which I always appreciate when it comes to depictions of mental illness (Jimenez doesn’t diagnose Amber, and nor will I, except to say her behaviour reminds me a lot of Angelina Josie’s character in Girl, Interrupted). It also means that we hear about her through memories and coping mechanisms of a little girl, abandoned, and this is heartbreaking.
You’re not asking too much. You were just asking the wrong person.
Justin is quietly angry so much of the time, and I’m glad Jimenez wrote him that way. My own boyfriend is similar, and anger can hold a lot resilience, and resistance to things that are unfair. Anger can problem solve and it can love, and the flip side to Justin’s frustration is an unwavering heart that was moving to read.
I love Maddy’s dedication to her best friend. There were a few moments when I didn’t like Maddy very much: her approach isn’t subtle, and doesn’t feel supportive at first, but this is a love story between Emma and Maddy as much as anything else. Jimenez treats Emma with grace, and Maddy helps us see her toughness and care and joy, as much as her hurt.
The one irksome aspect of this book is how clean and similarly-concluded a few of the relationships are (those from Jimenez' previous novels, and those mentioned in the epilogue).
There are great settings: the island and cabin where Maddy and Emma stay, the Dahl home with its family chaos, Justin’s studio, and the Mall of America replace the typical romantic scenes; the characters around each protagonist make things both more difficult, more real as well.
I love the way Jimenez introduces Justin through a Reddit post and flirty texting, and how much more weight they both have by the end.
This is a heavy book, more so than I anticipated. Emma’s mother is a hard character to write and a hard person to reckon with. Jimenez writes her through Emma’s eyes, mostly. This means that this volatile, neglectful, untrustworthy person is written with sensitivity, which I always appreciate when it comes to depictions of mental illness (Jimenez doesn’t diagnose Amber, and nor will I, except to say her behaviour reminds me a lot of Angelina Josie’s character in Girl, Interrupted). It also means that we hear about her through memories and coping mechanisms of a little girl, abandoned, and this is heartbreaking.
You’re not asking too much. You were just asking the wrong person.
Justin is quietly angry so much of the time, and I’m glad Jimenez wrote him that way. My own boyfriend is similar, and anger can hold a lot resilience, and resistance to things that are unfair. Anger can problem solve and it can love, and the flip side to Justin’s frustration is an unwavering heart that was moving to read.
I love Maddy’s dedication to her best friend. There were a few moments when I didn’t like Maddy very much: her approach isn’t subtle, and doesn’t feel supportive at first, but this is a love story between Emma and Maddy as much as anything else. Jimenez treats Emma with grace, and Maddy helps us see her toughness and care and joy, as much as her hurt.
The one irksome aspect of this book is how clean and similarly-concluded a few of the relationships are (those from Jimenez' previous novels, and those mentioned in the epilogue).
I cried more than once as Justin and Emma discovered and made amends with their dark parts. I was lucky to meet them and proud to let them go.
… because if it’s this good when life is draining and mundane and hard, think of how wonderful it will be when the love songs are playing and the moon is out.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Mental illness, and Child abuse
Moderate: Death of parent